In a space the size of a matchbox
by Yvy
Summary: Post S5. Last chapter, Trance and Harper discuss the 'perfect possible future'.
1. Not getting her back

They don't belong to me.

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Vanitas.

There was nothing to stop him just blowing the hell out of the ship that was positioned a stone's throw away from the Andromeda. Except there was one rather _major _thing that stopped him doing just that. Beka. Beka was trapped on that ship. He could not blow it up, which frustrated him intensely, he could not even board it, because:

"Any action you take against this ship, Captain, will result in the immediate death of your first officer. " Said the voice of the man, who was number one on Dylan's list of who he wanted to kill today.

It was never easy.

"What do we do, boss?" asked Harper, slightly on edge. Even the 23 cans of Sparky cola he had downed in the past hour were not helping now. Dylan shook his head. He had no idea. Harper continued to ramble. Something about maybe it would be easier if Beka decided she liked girls.

"I fail to see the relevance in this, Mr Harper."

Harper sighed and started explaining his theory on Beka and her so- called love life.

"OK, so it goes like this- there is a guy, a guy who is tall dark and handsome. Guy looks at Beka, says something along the lines of 'hey sweet thing, fancy a drink?' a day later she thinks she is in love. Then , oh no! The guy betrays her, she is upset and/or trapped on a ship with the threat of being killed unless her Captain does as he is told. Add on the whole 'I'm a Nietzschean' thing and Beka is out of here."

Dylan had to agree. Another drift, another bastard who wants to get in Beka's pants.

"So, I shall ask again, what are we gonna do?"

"I propose we just go in there and get Beka, you know, Dylan and his forcelance. And me of course." Doyle tossed her blonde hair and looked at Dylan expectantly. He however, just raised his eyebrows.

"What happens when Dean finds out?" Dylan asked, deadly serious, he did not want to test this guy. Rommie had done some background on him and he was not exactly a saint.

"And by not much of a saint, I mean a complete scum of the earth type." Rommie had said, just in case Dylan had not understood.

"If we don't do anything Beka is as good as dead anyway- come on you two, instead of standing around, we need to help her!" Doyle was determined to get them up and out of command. After all, she was already feeling guilty about this anyway.

_"__B__eka__! Hey, wait up." Doyle ran after her and almost into __her,__ as Beka turned round to face her._

_"__What__ is it Doyle? I need sleep- so be quick." Beka looked exhausted and what looked like a bruise forming on her left __cheek, also__ she had bags under her usually bright, blue eyes. _

_Doyle frowned._

_"Beka, are you alright?"__ T__hat __was the__ wrong question. __Nether the less it__ seemed important._

_"__Is__ that what you wanted to ask me Doyle?" __She sounded frustrated but her voice was barely more than whisper. Doyle shook her head._

_"I thought not. Is it about Dean? 'Cause if it then I shall tell you now, don't bother, __I__ am fed up with everyone giving me advice on it." Beka moved to go, but Doyle caught her arm noticing that Beka did even try to struggle- something was not right._

_"I'm just worried Beka, you seem withdrawn- and that bruise? What's all that about?" Doyle tried to sound __concerned__however__ what she said came out more __acc__usational__. Damn __thought__ Doyle to herself._

_"Go to hell, Doyle."_

_"No." Doyle said back argumentatively. "I'm just worried about you Beka, I know we're not that close, but you are still my friend. And yeah, maybe I am worried about Dean. He isn't exactly a nice guy. I am just trying to warn you."_

_"Thank you for your concern Doyle" Beka's voice went cold. " But you are the last person I would take advice from or even, even consider your opinion about Dean. You wanna know why? Because you are nothing more than a machine. You have no idea what it's like to be in love, you have never felt anything real, the only reason emotions and thoughts run through you head are because Harper put them there. You have no idea what I'm going through- so please. Give it a rest."_

_With that, Beka stormed off, leaving a stunned and upset Doyle behind her._

That was the last time she was seen on the Andromeda.

Tbc../

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Is accusational a word? Apparently not but I always thought it was. So my apologies for using a non-word.

I shall continue once I have thought up a suitable way to continue. Hope you liked it.


	2. Play the hero

Chapter 2

Beka was trying to think of a way out. She had gone aboard to tell Dean it was over. Whatever 'it' was. Unfortunately, it had not gone according to plan.

She was now stuck in a room the size of a matchbox, staring at the wall contemplating why every single one of her boyfriends turned out to be a jerk. She had even made a list. There was not even one name on there, where the relationship had not sucked.

It was never easy.

She kept coming back to Dylan. Why did she never choose him. He didn't want her that was why. A couple of weeks before Rommie had shown her a recording of Dylan's words to Peter. There was another disaster. Peter.

"Beka, Beka you can have, but me? I'm not that easy." That was Dylan's view of her. So instead she would flit from one bad guy to another just in case, in the end, maybe Dylan noticed.

Doyle had noticed. How hard she was finding it. The bruises. The exhaustion. But instead of talking about it. Whatever 'it' was. Beka pushed Doyle away.

"There you go, Valentine." Thought Beka to herself. "There's the problem, you're scared to let people get close." However that wasn't the truth. She did let people get close, the wrong people, people who would beat her up if they were bored, people who left her, people who betrayed her.

If only she had a watch, being stuck in perpetual darkness was bad enough but not knowing how long she had been here was even worse. So, she sat and did nothing for there was nothing she could do. That annoyed her more than anything else.

"Come on Dylan, play the hero, and get me out of here." She whispered hoping, somehow he woul hear.


	3. Time to go home

I just read the past two chapters to try to remember what was happening and I apologise for the awful grammar and spelling mistakes. I am very, very, very sorry because it annoys me too. I shall try harder in this chapter. And on we go.

* * *

"Sit back and relax Miss Valentine, nothing can hurt you here."

Beka struggled in vain, her arms moving furiously but to no avail. The metal clamps around her thin wrists scratched at her as she writhed around, trying to break free. Dean, the man she had shared her bed with, the man she had shared her thoughts with had turned out to want her DNA. The matriarch of the Nietzschean race, one could certainly use that to his advantage.

"You lying, little sh..."

Beka did not have time to finish the sentence before sweet relief came over her body and she was unconscious. Blood dripped slowly from her wrists, dripping onto the metal floor. It pooled around the boots of the man who was being paid to retrieve the DNA from the highly sought after prize. Not only DNA but maybe one of her ovaries too, Dean had mused. With that he could start his own race. Grand ideas raced through his head as he had watched the woman writhe about, shouting how she was going to kill him or if not how Dylan would kill him even harder.

_"So I hear you have a new boyfriend Beka, is this one any better than Peter?" Dylan asked teasingly, glancing over at his first officer. Trying desperately to ignore the __jealousy__ he felt at the fact she never chose him._

_"Dylan, are you ever going to let that go?" __Dylan laughed but Beka frowned._

_"Really. Please let it go." With that, Beka did what she did best and walked away from Dylan._

There was a stabbing pain in her gut as she pulled up her thin top she let in a gasp, there was gauze covering her lower abdomen. The pain intensified as she peeled it away from her reddened skin, revealing a bloodied cut about finger long. She let out a sob as she realised why they had taken her to that room, why Doc told her to relax. Her hands were shaking as she tried to place the plaster back over the wound. She looked around to see the same four damp, grey walls. She prayed to god, well no actually she did not, instead she wondered who out there would even be listening. Was there a god? A divine? Some higher being who could help her out? So instead, she sat there and hoped that Dylan wouldn't let this place become her home. Hope, as Dylan would say is everything.

The door swooshed open as Beka drifted back off into oblivion.

"Hello Beks. Time to go home." Dean smiled at her pulling her up, not caring at all, as she cried out at the pain ricocheting through her side.

_"Rebecca?"Dean had asked, looking down Beka__, with a strange glint his eye__. She glanced up at him wearily. __What they had been doing was not her idea of a good time._

_"Do you want children?"_

_Not with you, she had thought to herself. Surprised that it hadn't been a flat out no __that had sounded out in her head._

_"I don't know. __Maybe.__ If the time __was__ right and I could__ guarantee a good future for the kid. Why?_"

_Dean shook his head and __didn't__ even grace her with an answer._

* * *

And my space key is sticking. But that is not part of the story. 


	4. How much is she worth?

Chapter 4.

"Dylan- I was thinking- you know- maybe, just maybe give you Beka back once I was done with her- but I want you to want to have her back, I mean _really_ want her back. So, if you can think up a way of proving to me how much she means to you, I may consider letting her go." Dean did a mock salute to the infuriated Captain and the message blinked off. All eyes turned to Dylan, all minds wondering what their Captain Terrific would do next.

"Somehow I don't think a poem will cut it this time." Said Harper, trying desperately to hide the worry he felt for his oldest friend. He wished that for once Beka would meet a nice man. Nothing special- just nice and they could fly off into Trance's setting sun.

He received a dirty look from Dylan; Harper noticed how tired he looked. Dylan's hair was a mess, he hadn't shaved in a few days and he had ever-growing bags under his usually perky eyes. He looked, well he looked 300 years old, Harper realised.

"Andromeda- prep a Slipfighter, I am going to get Beka." Pushing himself off of the control panel, Dylan walked purposefully to the exit of the command deck, rubbing his hand over his face and muttering to himself about how he really would like a nap.

"Mr Harper, you have control. Rommie you're with me."

Rommie followed him like a puppy and turned around to wave at Doyle. They still had not figured out a way to get over the fact that they were both- technically- Andromeda's AI. They both wanted control. Doyle opened her mouth to say something but Trance interrupted her.

"Dylan?" She said in a quiet voice. Trance had taken Beka's capture almost as badly as Dylan had.

"Yes Trance?"

"We need Beka back- I mean, it is vitally important she comes home."

"More riddles Trance?" Dylan tried to be angry at the golden woman standing before him, but the look of terror on Trance's face meant he only felt more unnerved about Beka's 'situation' and also about Dean.

"I would explain- but you have to go now." The corner of Trances lip tried to curve up into a smile but the feeling of dread in her stomach, the feeling that was rising, prevented her from anything but keeping her sparkly mouth downturned.

Rommie smiled encouragingly at Trance and turned sharply on her heels to get ready to leave, dragging poor Dylan behind her.

"Captain? How are we going to get onboard undetected?"

"We're not."

"Oh... Well... Captain? Do you even have a plan?"

"Yes Rommie, I do. Get in, get Beka, get out."

Rommie made a sound in the back of her throat and watched as Dylan stomped off in front of her. He was not having a very good week, no one was.

There was only one thing on Dylan's mind and that was Beka. Actually, there were only two things on Dylan's mind: Beka and also, how much pain he could possibly cause Dean. He didn't like Dean. Personally, he thought Beka could do better, but sadly, she never did.

Meanwhile back on command Doyle was moping. Harper- for once- noticed something to do with the opposite sex, even a member of the opposite sex that he himself had built.

"Doyle? You alright?"

She signed dramatically and smiled coyly at him.

"Beka will be ok, you know that right?"

"I _do _know that, especially if Dylan has anything to do about it. But no." She paused, thinking of the correct way to continue. "It's not that, it's just some stuff that Beka said before... before you know?"

Harper frowned at her, Beka was hard work sometimes but it was hard to upset his blonde creation, or so he had thought.

"Why? What did Beka say?"

Doyle then reeled off- in Beka's words exactly, what the 'conversation' a few days before. Harper tried desperately to defend what Beka said but even he had to admit it was a little mean.

"But!" Doyle said, trying to brush it off. "She was having a hard time and judging from that mighty bruise she had, I guess that she was just angry with Dean and needed to take her anger out on someone. And that someone happened to be me?"

That seemed rational enough.

Harper nodded his spiky, blonde head in agreement with Doyle and they both lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Their universe was meant to be shiny, their oyster or something else poetically brilliant since they had saved Tarn Vedra, got rid of the Abyss, et al. However, the universe still flung too many bad guys at them; life hadn't seemed to change much for the better at all. In fact, it seemed to be getting progressively worse.

Suddenly breaking the peace, Dylan popped up on screen, seated in a Slipfighter, Rommie staring determinedly ahead. They both looked ready to go.

"Mr Harper, whilst I'm gone- don't break my ship." Dylan said, with a slight smile on his haggard face.

"Will do Boss."

Andromeda's mainframe frowned at him and made a note not to let Harper blow her up this time.

"See you on the flip side." With that, Dylan was gone.

"With Beka." Trance whispered to herself. "Please let it be with Beka."

* * *

**Are these chapters all really short or is it just me?**


	5. Flash

Flashback: how Beka met Dean.

* * *

"Valentine!" Beka turned to see a determined Dylan Hunt striding towards her, clutching in his hand a flexi. She groaned inwardly, already knowing what the flexi would be. Another simple errand to Tarn Vedra- help them build their shiny new academy. She needed a holiday.

She forced on a polite smile and waited while Dylan drew ever closer.

"Take this; be back in two days and happy hunting." With that, he walked off, his shoulders hunched, leaving Beka gazing at a supply route to some mucky, dirty and probably distasteful planet. Pick up four thousand tons of shiny rock and get her ass back to the Andromeda in for supper. Well, she thought to herself, it beats staying in.

Beka had been correct, the planet was a total mess, and she was lost in throngs of people. Men clambering for a better look at her, women shooting daggers at her, how dare an outsider enter their place.

She carried on walking, searching desperately for the man who had her loot hopefully she would know him when she saw him, hopefully the mass of people would clear and hopefully Dylan would stop sending her on errands easily done by someone less important.

"Miss Valentine?" A high voice said to her left, she froze, shoot or not to shoot?

"Who's asking?"

"Do you want your supplies or not?"

She turned to see a small, twitchy little creature holding a comm. She nodded her head and followed him. As they drew away from the crowd, the streets getting less populated as they moved.

"This isn't a trap is it?" Beka asked cautiously. The rat-faced man only shook his head.

"Here we are. The supplies are through there. My boss will help you load them onboard your fine looking ship."

"I was not told that the woman coming would be so beautiful."

"Yeah, OK. Can I just have the stuff please? Then I'm out of here." Beka was in a mood, she hated planets, she hated squeaky men and most of all she hated being called beautiful when she hadn't showered since arriving on this stinking planet.

"You sure now how to argue, my dear."

"Go to hell."

"On the contrary, allow me to introduce myself." The man bowed and took Beka's hand to kiss it; he had a charming glint in his eye. "Dean Hatu."

She hadn't been expecting that. Beka took her hand back slowly, surprised at the apparent courteous act she had just witnessed. She smiled at him; maybe this trip would have an upside after all.

"Et tu?"

"Beka Valentine."

"Well, Beka do you want your rocks now?"

She nodded, staring into this guy's dark eyes; she could so easily lose herself right now. Why shouldn't she take some time for herself on this planet? If the invitation arrives, she thought hastily to herself.

"Follow me."

Beka did.

Hours later, she was aware that she was standing in a strange room, watching the man who had helped her load up several hefty crates of "Tarn Vedra's hot, hot future". She was watching him sleep; thinking to herself, that maybe she had chosen better than all the time before, that maybe this one would last, that this one wouldn't try to hurt her.

"Beka. Tell me about the Andromeda. Tarn Vedra. Tell me why you are so set on doing all of this?" Dean pulled her down onto the bed and Beka smiled.

"I don't know why I'm doing this, to help Dylan I guess."

"Ah the revered Captain, I have heard a lot about him." Beka would have been puzzled to see the look that had crossed Dean's face at the mention of Dylan.

"Ah, he's not _that _great." Beka felt bad after saying that, Dylan was great, she didn't think saying it would be appreciated in front of present company.

"I should like to see your Andromeda."

Beka looked round at him, her hair flinging wildly around her neck. "Why?"

"To see what all the fuss is about, to meet new people and most of all to see you, to be honest I am quite curious to see where this..." He gestured to Beka and with a raise of his eyebrows continued. "Is going to lead. I don't wat this over quite yet. I wanna spend time other than on this forsaken, green globe."

"Then, Mr Hatu, I invite you to spend a week on the Andromeda, with me."

Dean nodded eagerly, watching Beka smile back at him, this woman really was beautiful.

Then he laughed, thinking about how easily he had just manipulated her.


	6. Lucky day

There was nothing left to do with Beka now, he had what he needed, and unfortunately, he had dared Dylan to prove how much he wanted Beka back. That meant that Dean was going to have to wait around a bit to see what the terrific captain had in mind. 

He glanced down at his flexi, which had all the stats about Dean's ship, Dylan Hunt was attempting to board. Dylan Hunt could have Beka. He was a kind man after all; Dean had come to the decision to keep Beka alive, in case she was needed again in the future and because he did not want the Nietzschean race on his tail, if he killed their beloved Matriarch. That was something that would ruin all his plans.

Let him come. However, don't make it too easy, he thought to himself. So Dean sent out guards for Dylan to kill, guards he would replace soon enough, he was getting bored of seeing the same faces all the time anyway.

"Rommie? Can you locate Beka?"Whispered Dylan to the android, ten steps ahead. She turned around and motioned for him to creep closer. Pointing left, they continued, treading lightly on the metal floor. Rommie knew they had already been detected and was on the lookout for Dean's puppets, a forcelance already clasped tightly in her hand.

They turned a corner and walked straight into a gaggle of guards blocking them from continuing any further on their journey.

"Damn it." Groaned Dylan, opening fire on the two men and dodging back around the corner. "Rommie! Hold these guys off whilst I go get Beka!"

Rommie turned to look at him and nodded, enjoying the carnage in front of her, she was- after all- a warship.

"Dylan turn left, go forward twenty yards, turn left again and enter the door in front of you, Beka should be in there." Shouted Rommie over the screams, she wished this lot would attempt to put up some sort of fight.

"Thank you Rommie." Dylan liked it when people where direct with their directions and onwards he went, away from the sounds of gunfire and shouts. Through the dark, black corridors of the ship, he still wanted to blow up. Eventually he arrived at the door that was very kindly unlocked.

"It's my lucky day."

He entered, somewhat cockily, expecting to see Beka rush towards him a look of relief in her eyes. Instead, he found stood with a gun to her head, a gun being held by the _lovely _Dean. It was never easy.

"Hello, Dylan." Said Beka, "I think it was a trap."

"Beka, are you alright?"

"No, but we can discuss that later." She attempted a smile at her hero, but it didn't come, pretending to be all right with her current situation was making her tired. They both noticed how

tired the other one looked, dreary eyes, downturned mouths. It also looked like Beka had been crying.

"Wanna get out of here?" Asked Dylan, holding up his Forcelance. _Dean, have I shown you my forcelance? _

"I'm a little busy at the moment Dylan." Beka answered sarcastically, nodding to the man on her right whose hand was gripped tightly around her arm.

Dean was getting bored with the interaction; he was in the mood for a fight. Not to the death, of course. But one where Dylan walks away with a bloody nose.

"Dylan, you may have Beka back, I'm feeling generous today, in the mood for sharing." He rubbed his hand up Beka's arm, felt her pull away at the touch and, with a grin, noticing Dylan's eyes narrow.

"That's very generous of you, Dean." Dylan stood there. He hated this man. Wanted to rip him apart.

"But, there is one condition; I still want you to prove to me you want her back. I mean why would I give her up if you don't want her back? It seems unfair." Dean continued in a singsong voice.

They locked eyes with other, daring each other on. _May the best man win._

Seconds ticked by, nobody moved.

_This is getting tedious, _thought Beka. She knew that Dean did not intend to die today, and that the only reason she was stuck here was because _both_ men were too stubborn to start something they did not want to. Dean, having seen the angry look in Dylan's eye was wondering whether it was suicide to get into a fight with him, at least at this hour. Therefore,Beka's conclusion was it was all down to her.

Screwing her courage to the sticking place, she ducked under Dean's arm, pulling it up over her head and somehow managed to get him on the floor.Silently cursing at the pain that had appeared in her own side again. She had heard something crack too, she hoped it was his back.Beka grabbed for his gun and with a laugh at the pathetic, confused expression on his face- she fired. The blast hit him straight in the gut.

Dylan stood there blinking, shocked at how rapidly Beka had seemingly saved the day.

"Should I fire again?" She asked- to Dean or Dylan, she was not sure. Dean did not answer, he was too busy doubling up in pain. Dylan however,cautiously walked over to Beka and took the gun from her. Brushing his hand over hers as he did. That had been rather violent andwas not completely sure whether she was sane or not. When he received a smile and not a hole in his head, he knew his Beka was back.

"Let's go Beka." He dragged her to the doorway, not noticing the look of pain pass over her face. They ran back to Rommie, leaving Dean unconscious on the floor. Rommie was sat on the floor, catching and throwing her forcelance up in the air, she smiled widely as she saw her captain and first officer running towards her. The smile dropped when she saw the blood forming on what was left of Beka's top, just above her hip. Neither of them seemed to have noticed.

"You got her?"

"Yes! Now run, Rommie, we want to get out of here as soon as we can."

Rommie nodded, she would have to query Beka on the blood later. She knew that whatever the reason, it could not be good.


	7. I can't find it

Sorry it's short -I felt like writing something but not an awful lot came out.

* * *

"Hey Harper." Said Trance quietly, skipping into the engineer's little bunker. "Dylan's got Beka."

She was rewarded with a huge grin on his tired looking face. "That's good. Is she alright?"

Trance nodded her golden head and sat down on a pile of welded together Sparky-cola cans.

"They should be back soon. Hopefully with Beka in one piece." Trance sounded nervous, the futures were all looking hazy to her then and she was scared about what this could mean. Beka was not exactly the most careful person and Dean was definitely not the most _caring _person.

"Are _you _alright Trance?" Harper was getting the hang of asking his 'nearest and dearest' about their woes. At least he thought he was. "You've seemed a little down since... since Beka met Dean really."

The wonderful Dean- if Harper had just two minutes with him- well Dean wouldn't be walking much after. The man seemed to be unanimously hated by everyone onboard the Andromeda- apart from Beka of course. Harper didn't think she was that stupid enough to do it with someone she hated. Then he remembered Tyr, had she hated him?

Trance fiddled with her hair and wondered whether she was able to tell Harper about all the fragments of futures that she had seen. She couldn't even find her perfect, possible future. She missed it, its comfort and the ultimately, the hope that the times to come would be _nice. _Of course, there would always be bad times- but perhaps not as excessively as in the past few years.

"I've lost it Harper." She said cryptically, her big, brown, shimmering eyes looked up at him, imploring him to understand. Unfortunately, he only looked confused.

"Lost what? Your mind?" _God I hope not. _"Your perkiness? Yeah that's gone somewhere, is that what's wrong?"

Trance shook her head. "The perfect future Harper. I can't find it- I can barely find anything.But this? This is like... It's gone completely. All we have done could mean zilch, if there is nothing good ahead of us."

"Oh." Was all Harper could say, to be quite honest, he felt slightly deflated. All the past eight and half years work- counting his three on Seefra- all of that. All for nothing? Surely, it should be damn-near perfect by now?

"I'm sorry Harper."

Putting down his welder/gun- his own invention- he clumsily patted Trance on her back.

"It's not your fault Trance, you've done more than any of us in trying to sort out his dump of a universe. Well apart from Dylan of course- he's like some steam engine of commonwealth reuniting."

"He has more to do though- but not if we don't get Beka back." She said her voice barely more than a whisper.

"Why? Why's Beka so important? I mean not that I don't want her back or that I don't -you know... She's like a sister to me- a long lost; slightly mean sometimes, completely insane sister but what's so important about her. Or is Dylan the main one ..." He trailed off, thinking out loud. Squinting at Trance, he sighed heavily. "I give up. It's all too complicated- just give me the short version."

"Beka and Dylan's futures are irrevocably linked."

That provoked another 'Oh' from Harper as he plonked himself down besides Trance.

They sat in silence, on the Sparky-cola bench, for a long while until the tinny sound of the Andromeda hologram announced their crew's return.


	8. Dylan's crew of the not so round table

Dylan sat at far end of his conference table, tapping his hand impatiently on the desk. He looked over to Doyle who was carefully preening her already immaculate nails.

"Is Beka gonna get here soon?" She asked with a dramatic sigh. All eyes looked up at her and Dylan slammed his hand down on the table, he was about to shout at Doyle to stop being so... infuriating. Luckily, Harper got in there first.

"Chill Doyle, she's been through a lot lately, so if she wants to spend an hour in the shower 'freshening up' we should probably let her." Harper did not add that the shower-hour, plus an hour in med deck sorting out Dean's crappy operation job of her equalled two hours when they could have been planning their next move. He felt that kind of thinking was best left to Dylan.

"She's coming." Rommie stated, turning to the door.

"Sorry I'm late." She said as she rushed to sit down next to Trance. Turning to Dylan, she nodded her head, her hair still slightly wet. "You may start."

"Thank you Beka, well the only thing on our agenda is Dean really and what we are going to do about him." Dylan spoke loudly, addressing the whole room.

"Isn't he dead? I thought Beka mentioned shooting him." Harper asked- to no one in particular. He saw a faint smile on Beka's lips; Harper remembered her look of pride when he had told him the shooting-of-Dean story. _Score one for Valentine. _

"Harper, since when do people actually die when we want them to?" Dylan replied but there was no hint of humour in his voice.

"Can I add something?" Asked Rommie suddenly. After gaining her Captain's approval, she continued. "I did some more digging on Dean and it turns out- he's Nietzschean."

"What?" Beka exploded, physically jumping in her seat frightening Trance in the process, Beka grimaced- sudden movements were still out. "But, but, but he had no boneblades!"

"Beka, we all know it is possible to remove them. But that's not the worst of it." Rommie said, trying to think of the best way to phrase her newly collected data. "He's part of the Letho pride."

"Never heard of them." Dylan said, shaking his head- prides do not just pop-up out of nowhere.

"That's because it wasn't always a pride, it's a group of Nietzscheans who hated or did not agree with what their _original _pride was doing. So they saw fit to create a new pride- a better pride if you will." Rommie finished and went silent.

"That is just great. Does that mean I get to add another Nietzschean to my list?" Beka looked at Dylan as she asked this, she considered whether to blame all of his on him. He was the Captain after all and had been the one to send on her that 'trip' to meet the _wonderful _Dean.

"You have a list?" He asked, Beka only shrugged. "This still doesn't explain why Dean wanted Beka's ovaries, Rommie."

"Actually it does. This pride wants to continue on, right? To not die out- now my theory is that because Beka is the Matriarch, in their eyes she has the strongest most sought after DNA. The best to reproduce from, therefore, giving their pride an edge over all the others." Rommie looked around at her crew, she had processed all of that in seconds and she wondered how long it would take for her organic counterparts to realise the enormity of her words.

Glancing over at Beka, Rommie was faintly alarmed to see that she was just sat there staring out at nothing. What Dean had done to her and what he continued to do was having more of an effect on her than she was letting on. When was the last time she slept? Had a decent meal? Had anything in the way of a _nice _day? Rommie vowed to keep a close eye on her friend in the coming future.

"Hold up." Harper whined, he looked confused and ran a hand through his spiky hair as he talked. "If Beka is mother of all Nietzscheans won't producing from her DNA be kind of you know... inbreeding?"

He looked at Rommie for the answers, but it was Trance who spoke up.

"No, Harper. Beka's DNA is only the marker that makes Nietzscheans Nietzschean. If you say that then you have to say that about _all _reproduction within the race because _every_ Nietzschean has Beka's DNA sequence. It is simply the thing that differentiates human DNA from Nietzschean. " Trance spoke softly, looking at everyone apart from Beka.

_Could this be thing that breaks her, _she asked herself.

"So they can just use me like I'm some kind of DNA storage facility? First Peter, now Dean?" Beka spoke coldly, addressing Trance directly. She was scared by the look of resignation in Trance's eyes, as if she didn't know what to do. Trance had to know what to do, she was their all seeing eye. Beka's very own lucky charm- at least she had been. "I didn't want any this."

"None of us did, Beka." Dylan rubbed his hand over his face as he talked, his blue eyes gazing over at Beka's. _It's never easy._

"Well Dylan. I don't see you about to become mommy to a generation of Nietzschean babies, do you?" Her voice was beginning to rise, all her frustrations held clumsily beneath the surface. "No, because you're what? Captain perfect? Everything you do is automatically considered grand?"

"Maybe Miss Valentine, if you kept your pants on for once we wouldn't get into half the trouble we do. Did you ever think of that?" Dylan was the first one to break- his voice was loud and full of anger. He hadn't even received a thank you from Beka for her rescue.

"If I kept _mine _on? Dylan, you're the one who does it with every woman who comes on board this ship!" Beka shot her answer back at Dylan and rose to her feet. Echoing her movement, Dylan also stood up and was about to shout back at his first officer when:

"Stop it! Both of you- god you're acting like five-year olds. Can we please focus?" Harper shouted out, he didn't usually take control but when everyone else is sat watching a fight between two people who should _not _be fighting he felt obliged to do something.

"Right, sorry." Beka said, coming to her senses and promptly sat down again. "It's just- I know I chose poorly again with Dean but can everyone please stop mentioning it all the time?"

The crew looked at floor- no one knowing what to say next.

"So what's the plan Dylan?" Beka asked quietly. "You do have a plan right? Please don't let this happen."

She sounded so utterly terrified when she had spoken that Dylan couldn't help but need to think up a plan. It was his nature to help when someone was in distress and when that person was Beka, the feeling was twice as strong...

"We need to destroy it." Doyle said, returning to the group from her nail-vacation. "I know that's probably not what you want hear, but the only way you can successfully not have a race of tiny blonde haired Nietzschean pilots is to destroy what they need to make them. You've got another ovary tucked inside you anyway so you can still have children. If you want."

"We'll blow it up." Dylan said. "Dean, Beka's hijacked ovary and the whole ship. That's the plan. Everyone alright with that?"

At Dylan's final words on the matter, the crew nodded.

"Good."

"One problem Dylan. The ship has jumped into slipstream – I can track it but we can't just go all guns blazing . I've done some scans- it has shields, a deflection system and pretty good sensors. Dean would know that we were planning to launch missiles at him before you'd even set the command." Rommie deflated the mood quite well with her comment.

"I have an idea. But Beka, you're going to hate me." Said Harper.

"Harper I was stuck in a space the size of a matchbox for about a week, you are not and will never be someone I hate. So what is your idea?"

Beka smiled at him and made a note to spend more time with her favourite engineer in the future, she missed his oh-so-awful jokes and he was like a brother to her.

"The Maru?"

"What about it?"

"We use that, we send it into the belly of the beast, chock full of explosives and BAM! Dean won't know what hit him." Harper said, with perhaps too much excitement over what would be an awesome explosion.

"No." Beka shook her head and turned to Dylan for support. "No."

"Actually Beka, it's one of the better ideas I've heard in a while." Said Dylan. "You say you want to come aboard his ship to talk or whatever. Instead we send over an empty Maru and as Mr Harper said, bam."

"Complete with fake life signs-which I'm sure Rommie can rig, you know- so we don't tip him off to the fact the ship is empty." Added Harper.

Dylan waited for the speech about how it was her home, how it had always been her home. That she would see the Andromeda blown up or become a museum before anyone dared to touch her ship.

It never came.

"Fine, take it." Beka whispered after minutes of agonising silence.

"We'll go and start clearing out the Maru then?" Asked Doyle. When Dylan gave her a curt nod, his eyes not leaving Beka, she grabbed Harper by the collar and dragged him out of the door. Trance followed but not before giving Beka a quick hug.

"Rommie?" The avatar looked up to see her Captain motioning to the door. She gave a slight cough and left the room, leaving Beka and Dylan alone.

The silence grew ever more oppressive, Dylan rose from his seat with a groan- his back was killing him._ That is what rescuing Beka Valentine does to you, _he thought to himself as he moved around the table to sit down next to the aforementioned women. She shuffled in her seat and refused to look at him.

"Beka?" He was about to ask if she was ok, but stopped himself, he already knew the answer. She looked tired, her full lips downturned and her eyes half shut, the ghost of a bruise still on her cheek. Eventually she turned to look at him.

"It's not fair." She said shaking her head, she didn't know whether to cry or be angry over the past few weeks. _Emotions suck, _Beka thought bitterly, _most emotions anyway._

"What in this universe is fair, Beka?"

Her eyes darted around the room as she pondered his question although they soon returned, like a magnet, to Dylan.

"Good point, Hunt. Good point."

"I've been known to make a few of them in my time." Dylan said with a grin, a grin that grew when he saw a smile on his friend's face.

"There's the Beka Valentine smile I've grown to love." He said, the words out of his mouth before he had a chance to stop them.

Beka tilted her head and gave him a puzzled look. Then he saw it, the sudden drop of happiness from her face and Beka looked scared. Scratch that, she looked completely and utterly terrified.

"I should go help Harper and Doyle, if we're going to do this." She mumbled, as she removed herself from her seat and the situation.

Dylan let his head drop to his chest as he heard the door swish shut behind the escaping Beka Valentine.

"Damn it."

He didn't notice as holo-Andromeda popped up next to him, her arms crossed and her hair a deep shade of purple. The ship felt like experimenting with different looks, she was virtual after all and could whatever she pleased. As long as Dylan approved.

"I think that went very well."

"How Andromeda? How did that go well?" Dylan snapped at her, after he had established it was Andromeda speaking and not some disembodied enemy trying to drive him insane.

"One of you finally admitted... _something _to the other. Also, Beka did not shoot you, which is always good."

Dylan looked up Andromeda, his eyes were blotchy, not from crying but as Andromeda suspected from a minor eye infection and his hair stuck up awkwardly from days of impatiently pushing it out o his face.

"Good? But Andromeda,after this whole week that is nothing short of fantastic."

"Captain, has anyone ever told you that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit?"

"Andromeda, has anyone ever told you purple is _not_ your colour?"

**Touché. **


	9. Daddy and a countdown

"The Maru's completely empty. Apart from Beka of course. She's saying goodbye."

* * *

"Beka, are you there?" Rommie called out, her voice echoing around the Maru's bare interior. She walked quietly, deeper into the ship and sat down next to Beka, who was leaning against a metal grate, hugging her knees.

"Hi." She said without looking up.

"Do you want to talk?"

Rommie turned to her friend and put her hand on Beka's shoulder. She didn't know what else to do.

Minutes of silence passed the two but eventually Beka sighed and began to speak.

"Why am I not fighting this Rommie? This is my ship, my home and I am sat here waiting for it to be blown up."

"Perhaps you know it's time to let go? Or, you know that what Dean plans to do is a lot worse than sacrificing this ship. If it makes you feel any better- I'll miss the Maru too." Rommie said as she looked around at the little, broken shell of a ship and remembered the memories on board her.

Beka's lack of humility when flying the Maru, Harper's stash of dirty holos and Sparky cola, Trance's plants and 'girl talk'. She was going to miss this ship, it had lived inside her for most of five years, to Rommie it had become an extension of herself.

"Or maybe Dean took my last shred of stubbornness, my will to fight, my Valentine-ness when he cut me up." Beka replied savagely.

"Beka, you're stronger than that." Rommie replied with conviction.

"Right."

Beka stood up and looked around at her ship, the dull lights flickering around the room. Beka wandered into the cockpit, trailing her hand along the cool metal, letting her nails catch on a bolt every so often just to hear a faint 'ping'. A sound that to her meant her ship was alive.

As she settled in the pilot chair for one last time, Beka let her head fall back as she clasped tightly at the controls. She remembered the first time she had flown her precious Maru alone- without being on the knee of Ignatius Valentine.

"_Relax dad, I'm perfectly capable of flying this thing." Beka had said with a laugh, as she flicked her currently blue hair behind her ear and grinned like a maniac._

"_Yes well Rocket, don't break her." Her cautious father warned her. _

"_I won't." _

_She felt free in space, free to fly where she wanted, free to enter slipstream and be at one with her universe. Tapping at the controls, she giggled and felt the ship shudder as it went to enter the strings of the universe. She could see the blue ropes stretching out forever and she felt compelled to ride them. To see distant stars. Then suddenly the ship groaned and the Maru went tumbling back into the blackness of space. _Authorisation Code: Don't let my daughter do something stupid.

"_What did I say about Slipstream, Rebecca?" Her father shouted as he bounded down the steps towards her. He tried to keep the laughter from his voice; it ruined the effect if he laughed when trying to be stern._

"_Err, slipstream is great?" Beka replied cheekily, smiling up at her dad._

"_No! Well yes. Slipstream is great but that's beside the point. The point is that: no slipstreaming, not until you get a licence allowing you to or we'll lose the Maru."_

"_Come on! If we get caught just say you were flying." Beka pouted, as she began pressing the buttons again. She was about to restart the slipstream drive when her father caught her arm and attempted to glare at her. As he did, the lines on his face became more pronounced and Beka noticed how sunken his features had become. His mouth was a stubborn line nestled in between a greying, messy attempt at a beard, his nose was crooked from one too many fights over a scam gone wrong and although his eyes were bloodshot and ringed with dark circles they still held that Valentine spirit. He hadn't lost that quite yet but it was fading fast._

"_I can't afford to pay any more fines than the ones I owe already, so please Rocket, try to be sensible. Also..." His eyes glinted mischievously at her as he continued. "If I was flying we wouldn't be caught." _

_Beka couldn't help but laugh at his cockiness, _

"_Fine. So I can fly in normal space, but no slipstream?" She queried._

"_No slipstream." He replied firmly. "Now, fly me to the moon, Cap'n Valentine."_

"Beka?"

"Hmm?" Beka turned around and looked at Rommie, she attempted a smile but it did not even reach her eyes. "Let's go, let Harper fit my baby with bombs."

"You don't have to do this you know? We _could _find another way."

"By that time Dean will be long gone. I can do this Rommie, I have to."

* * *

A few hours later, the crew had reconvened on command deck and were waiting impatiently for Beka so their plan could commence. The air was thick with anticipation and a sense of loss, as if they were about to kill a dear, old friend. Which in a sense they were.

"So if Dean had nice shiny shields, why don't you we?" Doyle asked Rommie, desperately trying to put some life back into the party. Rommie frowned at Doyle's choice of word- it had been _plural._

_We._

"Because three hundred years ago there was not a good enough shield system for the Highguard to adopt- and I believe the system still has some major flaws. And." She said with a pause and a smug grin. "I am flawless."

_Singular._

_Ha._

"It seems to be fine for Dean- no disaster there." Doyle pointed out stubbornly- choosing to ignore Rommie's last comment.

"Well _Doyle_, that'd be because Dean is the enemy and sod's law means it will work _great _for the enemy but for us it'd mess up every chance it got." Harper added with a shrug of his shoulders. It wasn't news to him that techonology failed, he just had to think about a machine he had made to synthesise pineapples to remember that

"Alright people, are we ready to blow this bastard up?" Dylan asked, striding heroically onto command with a wide grin plastered on his face.

He looked around at his 'rag-tag' crew, Harper was busy welding metal sheets to a control panel spilling its wire guts. Doyle standing there fiddling with her ridiculously, pink top. Rommie blinking rapidly as she processed world's worth of information in, if you will excuse the pun, the blink of an eye. Trance staring out ahead into the great blackness of space and Beka was... Where was Beka?

He was about to voice his question when she walked onto the deck.

"Harper, if you make any jokes about what we're about to do- then I swear I'll... I'll err; I'll set Dylan on you."

Dylan did a double take at this but was secretly rather glad that she wasn't ignoring him completely. They still had yet to discuss his comment and Dylan did not think it was the time or the place to discuss it now. Beka trudged down to the slipstream podium and folded her arms across her chest. She was shivering and nervously biting at her lower lip.

"Beka, the Maru is like a home to me too, so no jokes, I promise." Harper received a grateful smile from Beka. He hoped that she wouldn't stay mad at him for too long after the Maru was nothing more than carefree atoms given back to the stars.

Dylan nervously stepped up next to Beka, onto the slipstream podium and glanced over at her.

"You ready for stage one?" He said quietly, the expression on his face unreadable.

"Yeah." Beka replied, staring straight ahead. "Andromeda put me through to Dean's ship."

* * *

Thanks to Squid109 for the help with the shield business. It was greatly appreciated.


	10. The countdown begins

After a few agonising seconds, a man's face popped into view. His eyes were as dark as ever, they reminded Dylan of the black hole that claimed him and these eyes contrasted with the paleness of his face. His hair was a dull, brown colour and it grew with a slight curl. His small, curved mouth was spread into a wide grin at the sight of Beka, showing his ridiculously perfect teeth. He had a greedy, expectant look in his and this scared her.

"Beka! Are you going to apologise for shooting me?" He asked in a manner usually reserved for naughty infants, as he launched into conversation. He tried to hide the bitterness and anger from his voice. Tried to hide the fact he felt ashamed that a woman who had been beaten, drugged and operated on had still managed to get the better of him. With his _own_ gun.

"Hello Dean." Beka replied sweetly. "And no, you deserved that."

"So what do you want, my dear woman?"

"I am _not _your woman."

There was a pause and for a second Dean's face revealed it's true feelings, the smile slipped and left his eyes. He had a dead expression; there was no emotion until suddenly Dean remembered. A heart beat later and the perfectly composed face of greed and slight concern washed back over him. The calm in the eye of a tornado.

"Do you want something Becky? 'Cause truth be told, I'm kinda busy." Dean started to grin again, remembering to keep up the insane but 'I can manage everything' act he had developed through years of working with people.

"I wanna talk with you. On your ship. If we talk about a deal here- Dylan will only overhear and try to stop me." She did not add that her Dylan was currently standing beside her- for all Dean could see was Beka. Rommie had lined it up so that Beka was the only one being transmitted to Dean. _Thank the Devine, for someone with common sense._

Dean laughed harshly, not quite believing what he was hearing.

"Talk?" Dean stuttered. "You come back to my ship?"

Beka nodded, her face deadly serious.

"Why? I mean I tried to kill you. Now you want to talk?" Dean was not buying this, but a little voice in his head was telling him to say yes. To get Beka back on his ship, to whatever he wanted to her, to take whatever he wanted from her.

_Say yes._

"Alright Dean- I'll be honest with you." Beka lied. "I know what you're going to do, why you cut me up. And I hate you for it, but..."

_There is always a but._

"I want in. I want to be part of this race that you're so obviously creating- hell, most of it'll be my DNA anyway. So I propose I come on board and we come to some agreement. I don't trust you, just as you don't trust me but..."

_There it is again Deany._

"I'm sure we can work something out... I may not agree with your methods." Beka said darkly, before concluding her little speech. "But what you are going to create is pretty intense."

The whole crew wondered desperately if it had worked. Had Dean bought the lie that had rolled so smoothly of her tongue? The collective held their breath as Dean stared at Beka from across the gulf of space.

"Give me an hour Rebecca, to prepare my men, get some chest armour and a cup of coffee. _Then_ you my come aboard to _talk."_

With that, Dean was gone and Andromeda's crew launched into action.

"Mr Harper, do your thing." Dylan said authoritivly.

"Beka? Last chance?" Harper turned to his captain, friend and the woman he thought of as a sister. He was scared this was going to be her undoing.

"Go."

With a nod, he skipped out of the room, dragging Doyle behind him. Meanwhile, Trance looked in her head, seeing if she could find any indication of how this whole 'escapade' would turn out but still, all was dark. Beka was back in one piece and Trance had believed that to be the important factor in the future, apparently that was not so.

So, like the rest of her friends, it looked like she was going to have to play this one out completely oblivious to the outcome.

As Dylan would say: flying blind.

**

* * *

**

A/N Sorry this is short, I know everything I want to do with this story- I'm just having a hard time getting it out of my fingers onto the paper. So please bear with me.

**Also, I think I'm going to concentrate on this story, then go back to Sun. **


	11. Alone again

**I have a theory that this chapter was hard to write because it involves something terribly sad happening...**

Dean watched as Beka's rusty, old tin-can of a ship flew clumsily towards his hangar bay. The inertia gently carried the ship ever closer and Dean could feel his heart begin to pound in his chest.

_Check one last time. Just one last time._

"Finster. Scan the ship for any extra life forms apart from Beka's." Dean ordered, talking to a man whose name he knew for certain, was not actually Finster. "Please."

Dean got the answer he wanted: there was one life sign. Just one. One little lost girl coming home. Beka had seen the error of her ways; she had apologise for shooting him in the stomach and like all those who had seen the edge of the shiny commonwealth, now wanted more than her fair share. Dean even let himself imagine a future where they raised their race together.

Screw Drago Museveni, _he, _Dean Hatu would be the one to go down in history. Tales would be told, legends spread, myths created, all about one man and his mission to make those populating the universe stronger.

Not only that, but Beka was going to be his in five seconds. Four seconds. Three seconds. Two seconds. One second...

"And the Maru had landed."

Dean chuckled to himself. It's always easy.

Dean waited for Beka's face to appear on the overhead screen, for her to ask to be let through the doors that connected her ship to his. He waited and waited, then eventually, her face did appear.

"Goodbye Dean." She said, simply. Then the transmission cut out.

Dean felt his stomach plummet to the floor. A though briefly flitted across his mind. _Trap? _No. She was not that smart. No one could beat him. Never. He was invincible.

Invincible.

"Dammit. Finster, eject that god damn ship. Now!" Dean panicked, his voice stuck in his throat. He was one perceptive man. How had he not seen this?

Beka would not have said goodbye if she meant to come aboard. Something was wrong and it was all on that decaying ship that he had blindly let travel into the heart of his empire. Then the men around him exploded into action, trying to save the ship. But it was too late.

_I am invincible, I cannot die. I shall watch this all burn and I shall be left, to continue with my mission. _Dean truly believed he would survive. The little voices in his brain were telling him with complete certainty that he would be all right. Nothing could kill him.

Then the invincible boy was lost, his body separated, his limbs torn apart in the great explosion that wracked through the whole ship. An explosion that echoed out from the Eureka Maru, reverberating through the ship, destroying everything in it's path.

Then there was silence in the space where he had once been and all that remained was the debris of a once incredible dream.

* * *

"It's over." Rommie announced to the group. "Dean's ship had successfully been destroyed."

"Well done people." Dylan said, letting out a sigh of relief. It _was _over but still not one of them felt lighter, freer or that they had done anything good today. Dean was dead but so was the Maru.

"It doesn't really feel like a victory does it?" Harper said quietly.

"No."

Beka walked out of command, the image of her ship flying into Dean's lair still etched onto her brain. She just wanted to sleep. Curl uptightly, entangle herself up in the sheets of her bed onboard the Maru... But that was gone, never to be replaced by anything as warm and as comforting again.

Never before had she felt so truly alone.

* * *

**The Maru's been blown up! Whoops...**


	12. Tin presents

It had been a week since the events that had shook Beka up so badly. According to Andromeda, she still wasn't sleeping and if she did it wasn't for more than an hour.

"Andromeda, locate Beka for me."

"Outside her quarters, Captain."

"Thank you." Dylan said politely as he began making his way to find Beka. Perhaps she would be in the mood for talking for once. Harper had noticed that Beka had become strangle mute since the explosion. Relaying this information to Dylan, Harper had sounded so concerned and yet he would not talk to her.

"_She doesn't hate you Mr Harper." Dylan had said._

"_I know, but still I feel responsible and I hate seeing Beka so quiet- it ain't natural." Harper had replied._

As he approached the door he noticed Beka leant against it, wrapped in a blanket. He moved closer but she didn't move a muscle.

"Hi." Said Dylan, groaning as he sat down next to her; he wasn't as young as he liked to pretend he was.

"What do you want?"

Beka grabbed her blanket tighter around her and shuffled to her left, increasing the distance between herself and Dylan.

"To make sure you're ok." He answered truthfully.

"Well I'm not ok, Dylan. But thanks for the concern." An awkward pause filled the corridor. "Goodbye now."

Dylan shook his head and looked at Beka through tired eyes. Again, Beka did not put up any kind of a fight for him to leave.

"Where are you Beka?" He asked quietly, more to the universe than to her.

"On your ship, Dylan_._" Beka gave a harsh laugh. "Or do you mean _metaphorically? _Because then, then I'd say it's more half-way to hell."

She couldn't hold back the venom from her voice any longer. She bit down heavily on her full lip and gazed out into nothing. Still she had not looked at Dylan, if she did, she was sure to break. But _damn him, _Dylan did not have the good grace to leave her be. Instead, he moved closer to her starting 

something so unlike his usual stiff, captain-y way he would behave around her. As he gathered her in his arms, Beka struggled for a second before finally letting herself fall into his embrace. They had ages to talk about this in the morning, next week or even years to come. Because Beka had a feeling this night was going to fuel that _thing _that Dylan had told her before. But, in her current situation, she didn't really care.

They sat, for what seemed like hours. Beka resting her head on his chest, breathing lightly and fighting the faint urge to run. She tried not to close herself off from the one constant in her life. Dylan.

Dylan smiled into Beka's hair and thought about the tiring events, which meant he finally had her. If only for a moment or two, he had her... He also had a severe case of pins and needles in his left leg, but he looked passed that and saw only Beka.

Eventually the silence was broken and Beka looked up her Captain. Her blue eyes were unnaturally wide and a tentative smile graced her face.

"Do you err, wanna share my blanket?"

Dylan chuckled and said that yes, he would.

"So, now what?" Asked Beka, once her head had placed itself back on Dylan's chest.

"Now, I ask you again." Dylan paused and looked down at his companion, his voice full of all things serious. "How are you?"

Beka sat and thought about this one, for perhaps too long.

"At the moment, I feel terrible. I blew up my ship. I hate my quarters _because _they're not my ship and I'm tired." She frowned, her lips pressing together as she did and Dylan couldn't help but be entranced by the movement. His gaze continued to permeate her mouth as Beka carried on unaware. "However... I'll be fine. In the future...I just have to get there."

"You will." Dylan assured her, his eyes still on her heavy lips.

"I miss my Maru." Beka whispered, letting out an over-dramatic sigh. She turned to look straight at Dylan as if she was expecting something, when suddenly he leapt up and tried to untangle himself from her.

"Oh! I'll be right back." And with that, Dylan had ran from the corridor, leaving a perturbed and extremely cold Beka Valentine hoping he would return. Soon.

"Close your eyes." Dylan knelt down in front of Beka, clutching something possessively to his chest. "And hold out your hands."

Beka obliged, more out of curiosity than following orders of course. She felt like a little girl again, the excitement of a surprise present. Her father used to do the same thing.

"_Shut your eyes and hold out your hands, rocket." Her father would say . Or perhaps the present would be hidden._

"_You gotta find it first, Bex."_

Beka felt her hands drop suddenly, when Dylan placed the item in her hands. It felt cool against her skin. Her eyes flew open to reveal a tiny model of the Eureka Maru.

"Wow. Dylan it's beautiful." Beka smiled up at him and for the first time she felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes. She held the tin model between her fingers, at about eight inches long it was a perfect replica of her perfect ship. No detail had been missed, there was the burn mark from where Harper had been a _little_ over-zealous with his welding, there were the engines at the back (slightly wonky, since Uncle Sid had been utterly inebriated when he attempted to attach them) and little ladders running up and down the sides of the exterior. It was her bucket of bolts. Miniaturised but still, it was hers.

"Thank you, Dylan." She whispered sincerely, still staring wistfully down at the Maru. Finally coming to her senses, she pulled Dylan into a rough hug, at the same time holding the ship tightly against her chest.

"No problem." He groaned into her neck, the hug was great and all- but also rather constricting. She pulled back and felt a tear begin to roll down her cheek.

Ignoring that, she asked him where he had possibly got it from.

"On Tarn Vedra, there was some old man saying he could make anything out of tin. So I held him to that and gave him a few flexies on the Mar and well, voila. He produced that fine looking thing." Dylan felt quite proud of himself. "I was going to give it to you for your birthday, but seeing you so upset... I though it may cheer you up a bit."

Then Dylan yawned, his eyes scrunched up and he sat back. Beka laughed at the expression on his face- he looked like a little boy. Then he ran his large hands through his mussed up hair and Dylan, three-hundred-year-old hero was back.

Beka raised her eyebrows at him and wiggled the blanket wrapped around her in his face. Her version of _come back to bed._

The next morning, as Harper walked down the corridor to check up on his oldest friend, he couldn't help but feel elated when he saw her wrapped up in a not-only a blanket but also Dylan. Her head resting fully on his chest and his arm clasped tightly around her shoulder. What made him start to giggle however, was the look of satisfaction on Hunt's face.

"Andromeda. Where's Trance?" Harper asked- perhaps he would go visit her instead of waking the sleeping beauties. It might be more polite.

* * *

**Over one thousand words in this chapter! In my book- that's long :). **

**Well I fear this story is drawing to a close. But not quite yet... ;)**

**Thanks to all those who read and review this- I love you for it! And those read it and/but don't review- I know in your heart you review it grandly... Or not- it is entirely up to you. **

**That was slightly egotistical of me. Ah well.**


	13. Perfection will not come

**So, exams are over, sorry I have not updated for a while; I lost the momentum on this story. This is the last chapter and I apologise for the rubbish ending. If there are any major plot lines that you think I have not tied up then I may tag another chapter on the end of this I may not- it depends how long the line is. **

"Hey Trance." Trance looked up from her flowers and smiled softly at the man who had just entered. She was sat on the floor, surrounded by masses of plant life. Her golden body making the ruby red petals, the purple buds and the rich green leaves paled in comparison to the aura she seemed to emit. Harper sat down heavily among the bouquets adorning the spacious botany room. The smells hit Harper like a doped-up Magog on the end of swing rope.

Not the way he would usually describe something to himself, Harper concluded that the pungent aroma of the exotic plants must have been wreaking havoc with his head.

"I see you've started up the plant collection again, who knew Andromeda being with no air for so long on Seefra would result in all your plants dying. It's shocking." Teased Harper, as he wrinkled up his nose in a futile attempt not to sneeze.

"Bless you." Trance sang, her voice had back the childish and carefree quality Harper had adored. The voice he had not heard in years and one he had not thought he would hear again.

She must be faking it.

"I haven't even sneezed yet Trance!" The tickle in his nose grew itchier.

"You will." Trance replied, still in her singsong way. "The smell and pollen of these plants combined is very, very strong. You will sneeze eventually."

He did.

"I told you."

Harper smiled sarcastically, wondering when she would ask why he was actually here. However, Trance just continued to dig holes and lower her plants into the fertile soil. Looks like he would have to jump in first.

"So Trance, with the whole Dean thing being over and all... Do you have the perfect future back?" He had an expectant look on his face. "Because, well I just saw Beka and Dylan curled up outside her quarters looking _very _comfy. Dean is dead, and with it- hopefully- Beka's DNA. Everything is bright again!"

He looked and Trance, the smile still fixed on his face. It fell when he saw that Trance had stopped, her trowel was raised an inch from the soil, it was as if she was frozen. The first time she spoke Harper barely heard her, barely saw her lips move- all he saw was a single tear.

"No, I still don't have it."

Harper felt a cold chill run through his body; this was not good.

Trance slowly continued. Her voice barely more than a whisper and definitely not shiny, childlike or happy now

"I thought it was to do with the Dean thing, the fact Beka and Dylan were not where they were meant to be- but now they are. They are right on track and still I cannot find it... I'm scared Harper, what if that means that we'll never get the perfect future? What if it's gone for good? There are so many other good futures out there, I can see them just out of reach but not the perfect possible one. It's vanished."

The room was silent, Trance still had not moved- her brightness had faded and her face looked dull. Harper awkwardly patted her on the shoulder as he thought what he could possibly say next to make this information even slightly more bearable.

"How good are the other futures?" Asked Harper as quietly as Trance had been before.

She sighed and turned to look at her best friend.

_She saw happiness, loyalty and pride. She saw forgiveness. She saw laughter, Rhade sharing stories of his great captain with whom he shared and adventure. She saw love, Beka and Dylan's- one that would always grow, she saw their children. Their grandchildren. So many branches stemming off two people. She saw success- Andromeda continuing to drive back the night with Rommie at the helm. Doyle following closely behind. She even, possibly, perhaps she saw Harper getting laid. She saw the sun shine brightly over Tarn Vedra. _

_But she also saw pain. Unimaginable pain. They should have had more time, they should have said how they felt... She saw tears falling from piercing blue eyes, from Dylan's eyes. She saw partings, sacrifices and deaths. She saw flowers being laid on graves. She saw endless nights of arguments, of waking up to find someone dearly loved missing from the warmth of a bed. She saw love shattered, denied and broken. She saw her friends fall, all of them until eventually she was alone again. Her sun shining brightly over a system she didn't much care for anymore._

_Nothing about that seemed perfect._

"Trance?" She shook her head, brought herself back from the brink.

"They're _good_, but Harper, they are not perfect. There is always heartache, no matter how perfect the future looks, I can't find the one without heartache."

Harper laughed, a little bit too loudly and harshly for the moment. But he had finally understood.

"You can't have the good without the bad, that's life Trance. The amazing experiences only happen when you agree that bad ones must happen too. The reason why you can't find the 'perfect' future is for one reason!" His voice became raised, excited- the worry was over. It would all be ok.

"Why?" Demanded Trance, the word forced out of her jewel-like mouth.

"There is no such thing as perfection Trance, no future- no sparky cola- no girl... Well, I don't know about the last one... Gee Trance, I think I get it- the perfect future was getting harder to obtain or see whatever, because it can never happen. It's an ideal not a reality."

"Like the perfect girl?" Trance spoke so quietly again, Harper almost missed the joke.

"Nah, I've decided that I will find her." Harper smiled back at her, his head nodding up and down but his hair staying miraculously in place.

Trance sat, amongst the plants. Contemplating what Harper had said. That boy had delivered one major epiphany. Could she deal with no perfection? Could she accept the dark as well as the light?

She was going to have to, because life is just life. Even for an avatar of a sun.

**A/N. I stole the title of this chapter from a Fray song- All at once. I thought I'd mention it because I like the song and because that little bit is not from my head. **

**Hope you enjoyed the story. **


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